This Decree details and guides a number of provisions of the Housing Law regarding house ownership, housing development, use management of houses, house-related transactions and state management of houses.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Decree applies to the following subjects:

1. Domestic organizations and individuals: overseas Vietnamese; foreign organizations and individuals that invest in housing development in Vietnam;

2. Organizations and individuals that own houses, use houses and participate in house-related transactions in Vietnam;

3. Housing state management agencies at all levels.

4. Organizations and individuals not mentioned in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article but involved in housing-related activities.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Decree, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Commercial house means a house built by an organization or individual of any economic sector for sale or lease to meet the market demand and under the market mechanism;

2. Social house means a house built by the State or an organization or individual of any economic sector for sale or lease to or lease-purchase by a subject defined in Article 53 or 54 of the Housing Law and this Decree under the State-prescribed mechanism;

3. Official-duty house means a house built by the State for lease to a person defined in Article 60 of the Housing Law and this Decree while he/she in office under the Housing Law and this Decree;

4. Urban villa means a detached house (or a building originally built as a house but currently used for another purpose) with its own yard, garden, fence and entrance, no more than 3 main floors (excluding the staircase roof, loft and basement floor) and at least 3 sides looking to the yard or garden, built on an area not exceeding 50% of the total land area, and situated in a functional zone under an urban master plan approved by a competent authority;

5. Condominium means a house with 2 or more stories, passageways, stairs and a system of infrastructure works for common use by many households and individuals. Each condominium has areas under private ownership of households or individuals and the investor and areas under common ownership of its owners;

6. Lease-purchase of a social house means the advance payment of a certain sum of money by the lessee-purchaser of the house as agreed upon in the lease-purchase contract, who will pay the remaining payable amount as a rental on a monthly or periodical basis. Upon the expiration of the lease-purchase term, the house lessee-purchaser who has fully paid the rental will be granted a house ownership certificate by a competent state agency.

Chapter II HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

Section 1. HOUSING DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Article 4. Types of housing development projects

Housing development projects may be of either of the following two types:

1. Housing development projects for the purpose of investing in building a system of technical and social infrastructure and building houses and other architectural works under approved master plans (below collectively referred to as housing area development projects - grade-I projects), under which technical infrastructure works are built by grade-I investors, while houses and other architectural works (grade-II projects) are built by grade-I or grade-II investors;

2. Housing development projects for the purpose of investing in building only an independent housing work or a group of housing works, including also works for multiple use purposes as houses, offices, commercial and service centers (below collectively referred to as houses for multiple use purposes) on land areas where a technical infrastructure system is available (grade-II projects in housing area development projects defined in Clause 1 of this Article or in new urban centers) or independent housing development projects in renovated urban centers (below collectively referred to as independent housing development projects).

Article 5. Requirements on housing development projects

1. Before investing in building houses (including also houses in new urban centers), investors shall request competent state agencies to approve their investment (unless bidding is needed to select investors under Article 14 of this Decree), and organize the formulation, appraisal and approval of housing development projects under the Housing Law. this Decree and relevant regulations.

2. Before formulating housing development projects, investors shall work out and submit to competent People's Committees in localities where these projects are to be implemented for approval l:500-scale detailed construction plans under the law on construction planning, unless 1:500-scale detailed construction plans have been approved for the project areas and investors propose no adjustment to or are not required to work out these plans under the law on construction planning.

The order and procedures for formulating, appraising and approving l:500-scale detailed construction plans comply with the law on construction planning and these plans shall be publicized under Article 81 of this Decree.

3. Housing development projects must conform to local land use, urban construction and rural residential area master plans, urban designs and housing development programs in each period and satisfy housing development requirements specified in Articles 24, 25 and 26 of the Housing Law.

4. The designing of houses in housing development projects must conform to construction regulations and standards and designing standards of condominiums, detached houses and villas provided in the Housing Law and this Decree.

5. For housing area development projects, technical and social infrastructure systems must be completely built. For independent housing development projects, the connection to common technical infrastructure systems of the region must be ensured.

6. A housing development project dossier must contain explanations and basic designs made according to Article 6 of this Decree.

Article 6. Contents of housing development project dossiers

1. A housing development project dossier must contain:

a/ Project explanations:

- The name of the project;

- The necessity and legal grounds of the project:

- Objectives and form of investment; construction location; size of the project; land use demand; natural conditions of the project area;

- Implementation solutions: plans on compensation for ground clearance and resettlement (if any); plan on use of construction technologies; construction regulations and standards applicable to the project; environmental impact assessment; plan on fire prevention and fighting; solutions to building and connecting technical infrastructure works to the region's common technical infrastructure; accessibility to the region's social infrastructure;

- Public parking area and parking area for vehicles (including bicycles, wheelchairs for the disabled, motorbikes and automobiles) of households and individuals living in the project area after the houses are completely built;

- Area for building the social infrastructure system (kindergartens, schools, health care and service establishments, sport and entertainment facilities, parks), unless the project area already has such social infrastructure works;

- Land area reserved for building social houses (if any);

- Numbers and ratios of houses of different kinds (villas, detached houses and condominium apartments), total floor area of houses; plan on product sale (number of houses for sale, lease or lease-purchase);

- The State's responsibility for building technical infrastructure works outside the project's fence or running through the project area;

- Works to be transferred without indemnification;

- Plans on management and operation of the project and public-utility works within the project (models of organization, modes of operation management and service charges).

b/ Basic designs of the project:

- Explanations of basic designs: Brief description of the project location: the technical infrastructure system of the project and its connection to the region's common technical infrastructure system; environmental protection plan; fire prevention and fighting plan; architectural plans of works of the first-phase component project;

- Basic design drawings: The project's general site plan, sectional drawings, site drawings and solutions to main force-bearing structures of works of the first-phase component project; drawings of the project's technical infrastructure system connected to the region's common technical infrastructure.

2. An independent housing development project dossier must contain:

a/ The project explanations, which include the contents specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this

Article, except the request for the State's investment in building technical infrastructure works outside the fence or running through the project area and identification of works to be transferred without indemnification;

b/ The project's basic designs, which shall be made under the construction law.

3. The appraisal of basic designs of housing development projects specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article must comply with the construction law.

Article 7. Competence to appraise and approve housing development projects or approve investment in these projects

1. Housing development projects built with state budget funds shall be appraised and approved as follows:

a/ For houses built with local budget funds, investors shall formulate and submit projects thereon to chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces or centrally run cities (below collectively referred to as provincial-level People's Committees) for appraisal and approval. Based on specific local conditions, chairpersons of provincial-level People's Committees may authorize chairpersons of People's Committees of districts, towns or provincial cities (below collectively referred to as district-level People's Committees) to appraise and approve housing development projects capitalized at under VND 30 billion.

Before approving a housing development project, the chairperson of a provincial-level or district-level People's Committee (when authorized) shall organize the appraisal of the project. The time limit for appraising and approving a housing development project is 45 days after a competent state agency receives the investor's report enclosed with the project dossier.

b/ For houses built with central budget funds, units assigned to act as project investors shall request in writing provincial-level People's Committees in localities in which housing development projects are to be implemented to approve investment in these projects with contents specified at Point b, Clause 2 of this Article before the projects are formulated, except projects in which investment is decided by the Prime Minister.

After obtaining written investment approval of provincial-level People's Committees, investors shall formulate and submit projects to investment deciders for appraisal and approval. The time limit for a provincial-level People's Committee to approve investment is 30 days while the time limit for project appraisal and approval is 45 days after a competent state agency receives a complete dossier under regulations;

c/ Details of a decision approving a housing development project as specified at Points a and b of this Clause include:

- The name of the project (housing area development project or independent housing development project);

- The name of the investor; investment objectives and form;

- The project location and size; land use area and boundaries; number of inhabitants;

- Ratios and numbers of houses of different kinds (villas, detached houses, condominium apartments); subjects eligible for house lease and rent rates;

- Public parking area and parking lot for households and individuals living in the project area after the houses are completely built;

- Total investment of the project;

- Project implementation duration and schedule (schedule for each phase);

- Main rights and obligations of the investor;

- Plans on management and operation of the project and the condominium after construction investment (models of organization, modes of operation management and service charges).

2. Housing development projects (excluding projects of grade-II investors) invested with non-state budget funds (regardless of land areas occupied by projects) shall be appraised and approved as follows:

a/ Investors shall send reports to provincial-level People's Committees for written investment approval of their housing development projects. For a housing development project to build less than 500 houses (including villas, detached houses and condominium apartments), the investor shall report to the district-level People's Committees for a written investment approval, unless this project is subject to bidding for investor selection as specified in Article 14 of this Decree;

b/ A written investment approval in a housing development project specified at Point a of this Clause or Point b. Clause 1 of this Article contain the following details:

- The name of the project (housing area development project or independent housing development project);

- The name of the investor, except cases of bidding for investor selection specified in Article 14 of this Decree;

- Investment objectives and form; project location and size; land area occupied by the project; number of inhabitants;

- Building of technical and social infrastructure works: kindergartens, schools, health care and service establishments, sports and entertainment facilities, and parks (if any);

- Plan on marketing of products: sale, lease or lease-purchase of houses (clearly indicating floor area and number of houses for sale, lease or lease-purchase);

- Public parking area and parking lot for households and individuals living in the project area after the houses are completely built;

- Land area reserved for building social houses (if any);

- Responsibilities of the investor and local administration:

- The project implementation duration and schedule (schedules for each phase):

- For a housing area development project, there must be following additional details: plan on handover of technical infrastructure works to the locality after construction is completed; the responsibility to build social infrastructure works (if these works are built by the local administration, the time limit for the local administration to complete the building must be clearly stated: past that time limit, the investor may build these works or invite other investors to participate in the building);

d/ After obtaining written investment approval, investors shall formulate, appraise and approve housing development projects according to contents of such written approval, this Decree and relevant laws.

3. For a housing development project (regardless of investment capital sources and land areas occupied by projects) to build 2.500 houses or more (including villas, detached houses and condominium apartments in new urban centers, and houses for multiple use purposes), the investor shall send a report to the provincial-level People's Committee for consideration and submission to the Prime Minister for investment approval of this project (housing area development project or independent housing development project) before formulating, appraising and approving the project.

Within 10 working days after receiving the report of the investor, the provincial-level People's Committee shall examine the report and seek written comments of the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance on the following matters: land use planning, construction planning, project implementation duration and schedule, ratios of houses of different kinds, the investor's capacity and other relevant matters under the state management by these ministries, before submitting the project dossier to the Prime Minister. The time limit for collecting comments of these ministries is 20 days after receiving the report of the investor, and these ministries shall give their comments to the provincial-level People's Committee within such time limit.

For a housing area development project (or an independent housing development project), a dossier to be submitted to the Prime Minister comprises the report of the investor requesting the provincial-level People's Committee to report the project to the Prime Minister for approval of investment, the report of the provincial-level People's Committee to the Prime Minister for investment approval, showing the contents specified at Point b, Clause 2 of this Article, a 1:2,000-scale construction plan already approved by a competent authority and comments of the ministries specified in this Clause.

Within 10 days after obtaining the Prime Minister's approval, the provincial-level People's Committee shall notify it in writing to the investor for proceeding with the formulation, appraisal and approval of the housing development project under the construction law and this Decree. For a state budget-funded housing development project, the investor shall formulate the project before submitting it to a competent authority for appraisal and approval under Clause 1 of this Article. For a housing development project in which investment is decided by the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility for appraising and submitting the project to the Prime Minister for approval.

4. If the investor of an approved housing development project wishes to make a change in any of the following contents: investment objectives; project size; land area occupied by the project; number of houses to built; and project implementation schedule, it shall request in writing a competent state agency defined in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article to give a written approval of added contents of the project before carrying out the building. For a project to build 2,500 houses or more (including villas, detached houses, condominium apartments in new urban centers, and houses for multiple use purposes), the investor shall request the provincial-level People's Committee to consider and make a report on added contents of the project (housing area development project or independent housing development project) to the Prime Minister for approval. The time limit for issuing such written approval is 20 days after receiving a written request of the investor or the provincial-level People's Committee.

The Ministry of Construction shall set forms of reports of investors requesting provincial- or district-level People's Committees to approve investment as specified in Clause 2 of this Article, reports of investors requesting provincial-level People's Committees to report their projects to the Prime Minister for investment approval, and reports on housing development projects of provincial-level People's Committees to the Prime Minister for approval of investment in these projects as specified in Clause 3 of this Article; and forms of project-approving decisions and written investment approval as specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, and guide the implementation of the provisions of this Article.

Article 8. Implementation of housing development projects

1. When investing in building houses, investors of housing development projects shall comply with the Housing Law, this Decree and the construction law.

2. Investors of housing development projects shall apply for construction licenses before commencing the construction of houses and other architectural works of their projects, unless they are exempt from construction licenses under the construction law.

3. Investors of housing area development projects shall completely build technical infrastructure systems according to approved project contents. In case they are obliged to build social infrastructure works under project-approving decisions or written investment approvals of competent state agencies, investors shall strictly comply with contents and implementation schedules of projects already approved.

4. Grade-I investors of housing area development projects may transfer rights to use land areas with technical infrastructure to grade-II investors for building houses after technical infrastructure works have been built according to project contents and schedules and shall comply with approved project contents or contents of investment approval of competent state agencies. Grade-I investors shall manage technical infrastructure systems of their housing area development projects before handing over them to local administrations and supply electricity and water for grade-II investors to build houses, and inspect and supervise compliance with master plans, architecture designs and investment contents already licensed by competent state agencies and schedules of building technical works within the scope of projects of grade-II investors.

5. Grade-II investors are not required to apply for investment approval by competent state agencies but shall build houses and other architectural works according to contents of land use rights transfer contracts signed with grade-I investors, and comply with master plans, architecture designs and